2011 Japanese GP FP1 analysis

It’s not unusual to see Sebastian Vettel off the top spot in the first practice session, only for him to go on and set the pace through the rest of the weekend.

But Toro Rosso’s pace in the first session at Suzuka looks encouraging for the team. Sixth is the highest a they’ve been in first practice all year, and of late they’ve tended to be considerably lower than that.

Here’s all the data from the first practice session at Suzuka.

Longest stint comparison

This chart shows all the drivers’ lap times (in seconds) during their longest unbroken stint:

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/charts/2011drivercolours.csv

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Sebastian Vettel

97.639

102.001

104.601

94.742

101.207

94.375

Mark Webber

100.273

99.257

99.729

99.951

99.826

104.863

115.614

Lewis Hamilton

96.11

99.546

94.427

99.843

93.725

Jenson Button

94.042

94.466

94.248

102.054

93.634

124.191

Fernando Alonso

105.154

99.109

96.04

100.795

94.781

94.757

Felipe Massa

104.821

96.759

105.904

95.585

96.106

97.02

Michael Schumacher

96.961

97.146

97.118

107.775

97.166

97.63

104.568

120.763

Nico Rosberg

99.865

99.171

98.197

112.275

99.942

Bruno Senna

100.491

101.671

99.144

98.544

Vitaly Petrov

97.009

100.026

96.654

96.912

96.885

101.901

138.496

Rubens Barrichello

103.031

114.106

103.216

117.855

98.331

Pastor Maldonado

100.775

99.848

120.536

100.843

98.446

Nico Hulkenberg

97.579

101.669

97.453

105.374

99.324

127.864

Paul di Resta

97.905

97.917

105.851

97.983

103.791

127.393

Kamui Kobayashi

100.509

100.082

97.951

105.226

96.948

Sergio Perez

101.435

107.393

101.612

99.048

106.326

98.262

108.947

97.429

Sebastien Buemi

96.354

95.902

95.667

95.725

95.711

95.724

95.59

Jaime Alguersuari

100.414

95.807

96.817

96.074

99.766

95.777

Karun Chandhok

101.177

108.39

101.08

109.869

100.32

100.658

Jarno Trulli

101.404

104.523

111.741

99.382

Daniel Ricciardo

106.073

103.544

102.856

102.576

101.597

101.319

101.106

Narain Karthikeyan

112.563

102.55

105.686

117.133

110.759

128.988

Timo Glock

102.43

101.341

112.429

Jerome d’Ambrosio

103.852

102.168

101.695

102.022

101.759

105.347

116.969

Ultimate lap times

An ultimate lap is a driver’s fastest three sector times combined.

Jenson Button was fastest and also had a little time in hand over Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel

Complete practice times

Both Toro Rossos were in the top eight this morning at a track where they’ve shown good form in the past, particularly in 2009.

The team only recently introduced their exhaust-blowing package onto their car which should be paying dividends at this circuit where downforce is crucial. Jaime Alguersuari was clearly pleased with his car in the first session, saying it had “a very good feeling in high speed” corners.

7 comments on Toro Rosso show form in first session

Toro Rosso are always good around Suzuka, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them score points. Hopefully Sauber’s pace will improve as the weekend progresses, I’d love to see both drivers score points.